WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Redistricting came about as a result of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). It is designed to give a district to communities that are heavily minority or poor, so that such a district will always be able to elect a representative of their choice. The idea is to promote all areas of the city be represented when decisions are made, and programs are developed. Normally, a ‘community of interest’ (one that is similar in race, economic status and landmark boundaries) is kept together. Examples of this are Stonegate and Bridgeway or Broderick and Bryte.

According to Professor Doug Spencer’s A Guide to Drawing Electoral Lines, ‘cracking’ is when a large or significant area is split apart in order to break those communities of interest into small pieces across multiple districts. This drains the voting power of the area. The court has deemed cracking illegal. The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to combat tactics denying minorities the right to an effective vote, including redistricting techniques like those above. As federal law, the Voting Rights Act overrides inconsistent state laws, just like the constitutional equal population rule overrides other state laws.

Portions of West Sacramento are up in arms because of the redistricting map that was chosen by the city council. The council has chosen Map 4A, in which Broderick and Bryte are separated. The problem is that Broderick and Bryte are literally right next to each other, and issues and challenges felt by one, are also felt by the other. In map 4A, Broderick is lumped in with the Bridge district.

Broderick and the Bridge districts have very few similar problems. In addition, Bryte has very little in common with the State Streets. Yet, in Map 4A, this is how the lines of the map are drawn. By adopting Map 4A, it makes the north side of town virtually unable to impact any single election. The city council claims that they are not ‘cracking,’ but the Broderick/Bryte Neighborhood Association is fighting just that.

Eighteen people testified at the city council meeting that Broderick and Bryte are one community. The County Supervisors and the Washington Unified School District both agreed that Broderick and Bryte are considered one community. Even the City Attorney opposed Map 4A, yet this is the map chosen by the council. The West Sacramento News Ledger reached out to each of the City Council members. Only Norma Alcala and Quirina Orozco responded.

“The map is illegal. It is anti-minority and anti-poor people, and I don’t like it,” Councilwoman Alcala said. She feels very strongly that this was the wrong decision. Mayor Pro-tem Orozco has a different outlook on the subject.

“The City prioritized public engagement and outreach which resulted in dozens of map submissions that the Council considered. While the map I preferred was not chosen by the Council, Map 4a met the intent of the CVRA, and ensured that specific marginalized communities would not be left with no voice or representation. When faced with an impossible task, true leadership requires us to make difficult decisions and seek consensus for the progress of our city,” Orozco said.

Vice Mayor Orozco explained that with the maps that they had to choose from (for their final choice), though she didn’t like this map, it was the only choice that included representation for all sections of town. She further reiterated that ultimately the goal of redistricting was for all parts of town to have representation and though maybe not in an ideal way, this map meets all of the requirements.